Grid tension stop device



April 1953 w. H. SHONTZ 2,635,821

GRID TENSION STOP DEVICE Filed Aug. 11, 1949 v 2 SHEETS-SHEET l INVENTOR. WILLIAM H. SHONTZ 13y ATTORNEY.

April 1953 w. H. SHONTZ 2,635,821

GRID TENSION STOP DEVICE Filed Aug. 11, 1949 2 SHEETSS EET 2 JNVENTOR. WILL/AM H sHONTZ Patented Apr. 21, 1953 GRID TENSION STOP DEVICE William H. Shontz, Lewistown, Pa., assignor to American Viscose Corporation, Wilmington, DeL, a corporation of Delaware Application August 11, 1949, Serial No. 109,675

8 Claims.

This invention relates to tension devices for use on winding machines or other textile apparatus and particularly to a device for progressively lessening the friction applied to the strand as the diameter of a strand package being formed by the machine or apparatus increases.

To build strand packages having a desirable shape and density, it is usual to apply tension as the strand passes from the source of supply to the winding spindle. A device for this purpose in common use comprises two members, each constructed asa plate or grid having a plurality of parallel spaced fingers. The members are supported in opposed relationship and may be urged toward each other into contact with a strand passing therebetween. Generally, one member is fixed and the other is movable. Friction with the running strand is readily obtained and varies with the degree to which the fingers of the one member enter the spaces between the fingers of the other member. In a conventional device, fixed support is provided for one of the members and the other is hinged therewith. A weighted lever, a spring, or other means is linked to the movable member to provide the pressure on the strand.

However, vibration or fluttering may be induced in such tension devices from the jerking of the strand caused by erratic departure of the strand from a supply package or by the passage of knots, loops, or other enlargements of the strand through the tension device. Such vibra tion or chattering is communicated to the weights and other parts connected with the tension members, the momentum of which in turn reinforces or amplifies the vibration of the members. The pressure on the strand is thus intermittently increased and relieved to cause such variation in tension on the strand as to afiect its quality and frequently to cause breaking of the strand.

A stop screw, mounted on the fixed member and adjusted to contact a finger of the movable member or grid, is one conventional means for limiting the movement of the movable member. The stop screw may be adjusted to prevent the fingers of the movable grid from meshing too deeply with the fingers of the fixed grid if vibration occurs. Such an expedient also prevents excessive tension on the strand as the machine is started, since the fingers tend to assume the most re-entrant position when the strand is not taut, such as when the machine is inoperative. Ihe screw is accordingly adjusted so that the movable grid is held outwardly to the normal position assumed by the movable grid during normal operation of the machine shortly after the starting of a cone or other package. However, as the cone size increases, tension decreases as a result of the shift in position of a weighted lever normally used to obtain grid pressure, and the movable grid moves out of contact with the stop screw.

As variation in tension of the yarn or thread entering the tension device from a supply package, a rayon cake for example, may cause the movable grid to flutter or vibrate, the extreme condition is often reached wherein the movable grid swings out of contact with the strand and then back again into contact. The swinging open of the movable grid is desirable as it relieves the strain on the yarn. Because of the springing which occurs in the grid, portions of the grid move inwardly beyond their regular stop position established by the screw to produce excessive pressure on the yarn. If the yarn does not break, it will bounce the movable grid open again; this type of action sets up a cyclic vibration or flutter which causes alternate snapping or releasing of the strand.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which may be attached to winding machines for preventing the chatter or vibration of tension devices. It is also an object to improve the quality of wound packages by reducing the breaking and straining of the strand during the winding thereof. It is still another object of the invention to provide a simple and inexpensive device which may be readily applied to conventional equipment with slight modification. Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention and the drawing relating thereto in which 7 Fig. 1 is an elevation of a conventional winding machine mounting an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged pictorial view of that section of the apparatus of Fig. 1 including the invention;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of a modified embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 4 is a side view of a portion of the apparatus of Fig. 3.

Fig. 1 illustrates a winding machine of the conventional type having a frame ti, journaled for supporting a winding spindle B for collecting a running yarn, and a cam shaft 9. A rigid tube 50 of fiberboard or other material is mounted on the spindle 8 and supports a strand package indicated in ghost outline by a circle H corresponding almost to full size of the package. A thread guide i2 is shown in a position in which it will be in contact with a package having an outer diameter indicated by the circle H. The guide i2 is mounted on a traverse bar is which reciprocates within a guide I5. The guide i5 is mounted on a frame ll, commonly known as a traverse frame, which may rotate or swing about the cam shaft ii. The shaft 9 supports a cam (not shown) which reciprocates the traverse bar i i and the guide l2. The lower portion IQ of the frame i! is enlarged to provide a counterweight which urges the guide l2 against a package supported on the spindle 8.' A thread 29 traveling in the direction of the arrows from a package (not shown), such as a rayon cake, travels upwardly through a guide 2 and a tensioning device 25, past a lateral arm 25 of a drop wire 2?, and through the traverse guide l2. Upon breakage of the thread, the drop wire 27 swings clockwise about its pivot at 28 and an arm 29 thereof engages the periphery of a cam 35 mounted on the shaft 8. Rotation of the cam produces an upward thrust on the arm 25 which lifts a quadrant 33 about a pivot 3 to disengage a hooked portion 36 of the quadrant with the clutch lever Sal. The shoe 39 of the brake thereafter engages a surface ii) to stop the machine.

To modify the effect of the weight 59 upon the thread guide l2 so as to obtain the desired package characteristics, a lever it carrying a weight ii which is adjustable therealong is connected to the portion iii of the traverse frame il by a link E3 having a bent end portion in pivotable relationship with an aperture 5 i extending laterally inwardly of the frame, and another bent portion extending through an aperture of a clevis portion 515 of the lever Ml. It will be readily seen that as the periphery of the package grows larger and forces the guide I2 outwardly, the frame ll will be shifted in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1. The lever iii and the weight ii also swing toward the left. Whereas the frame it moves away from an upright position, the weight i! and lever M move toward an upright position with the result that the moment of the weight is acting on the guide 42 is increased, while the moment of the weight M is decreased.

As the package grows, it is necessary to lessen the tension of the strand entering the guide 52 to produce a package of desirable shape and density. Control of the friction to which the strand 29 is subjected as it passes through the tension device 25 is obtained by operation of a lever 53 and a weight 55 adjustable therewith, the lever being connected with a movable member 58 of the tension device 25 by a link 25 5. The moment exerted by the weight 5! and the lever 55% on the member 53 is determined by the degree of divergence of the weight 5! and the lever iii from the vertical. The greater the divergence, the greater is the moment of the weight and lever which exerts a tension force through the link 54. The lever 58 is pivotable about a bent extension "iii of the link The position of the extension of course, is dependent upon the size of the package and the resultant position of the frame il'. Thus an inverse relationship exists between the pull of the lever 56 and the weight 51 onv the movable member 53 and the diameter of the package being. wound on the spindle 3 since, as the diameter of the package increases, the pull of the lever and the weight is lessened by movement thereof to more nearly vertical positions.

The tension device to which the invention is applied comprises the movable member 53 and a fixed member 58 which are of grid-like form having laterally extending bars or fingers which may be brought into alternating and interdigital or meshing relationship as the movable member is swung toward the fixed member. In the pre ferred form, the surfaces of the fingers of each grid or member which contact the yarn passing therebetween are convex in a direction normal to the longitudinai direction of the fingers. The fixed member til is fastened by screws to a bracket 52 attached to the machine by cap screws The fixed member supports the movable member in hinged relationship at the pin 60.

The parts of. the winding machine hereinbefore described are well known. They are described to make clear the operation of the machine as a whole and to facilitate the description of the invention, which is applied to and used in combination with the portions of the machine. To carry out the objects of the invention, a lever 65, best shown in Fig. 2, is pivotably supported on a tooth-like projection es of the bracket 62 by a screw 61. The end portion 69 of the lever adjacent the device 25 is provided with a threaded aperture to receive a set screw ill which may be adjusted into engagement with a finger 72 of the movable member 53 of the tension device. The arm N of the lever extends into a region laterally offset with respect to the portion of the arm to which pivots about a cap screw '55. The lever MB is provided with a sleevebearing portion H which rotates with the lever about the pivot '55. A cord Hi may be tied to the lever to a portion adjacent thehole and looped about the'bearing W in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2 and attached to the lever E5 at 8!. The bearing H and the cord '28 thus operate as a Windlass acting on the lever 55.

As the lever it and the weight 4| swing through an are normally less than degrees during the formation of the package as the result of its linkage to the frame H, the arm is is pulled upward and the set screw it, acting as a stop for the movable member 53 of the tension device, is carried in a direction which tends to disengage the fingers of the movable member and fixed member 53 and 58 from a meshing relationship. During any vibration or chattering of the movable member, the set screw it acts as a stop for limiting movement of the movable member in the direction in which the movable member is moving toward the fixed member to bring fingers of the members into a more meshed relationship. The set screw is preferably adjusted at the beginning of the package on the spindle 8 with the winding machine running so that the screw just engages the finger '52 at the normal operating position of the member 53. Thus, as the package becomes larger, the stop position established by the set screw is gradually shifted to cause greater separation of the members 53 and 553. The changes in the stop position of the member 53 are accompanied by a progressive lessening of the force produced by the lever 59 and the weight iii which permits the members to move gradually into a less meshed relationship of the fingers as the lever 58 and the weight move toward a vertical position. The reduction of'this force increases the tendency of the movable member 53 to flutter in response to variations in tension of the yarn leaving the supply package. The slight outward shifting of the stop position for this member limits the inward swing of the member and substantially refree vibration of the member 53.

In Figs. 3 and 4, a modified form. of the invention is illustrated in which a lever 5511, which is preferably longer than the lever 65 illustrated in Fig. 2 extends into a position which is laterally offset with respect to the axis of the cam shaft 9. A member 84, having a shape such that it extends around the cam 3| with ample clearance (see Fig. 4), is secured by cap screws 86 to the frame 11. The member 84 is provided with a cylindrical element 88 which is approximately coaxial with the pivot axis of the frame ll. One end of a cord 15a is secured to member 84 and is wrapped around the surface of B8 in a counterclockwise direction and the other end is secured to the arm Ma as the package being wound becomes larger in diameter and the element E8 swings with the frame H, the cord 15a is wound upon element 88 in the manner of a Windlass. This lifts the arm Ma upwardly and changes the stop position for the movable member of the tension device 25, as established by the stop screw Hla, in the manner described with reference to the lever 65 of Fig. 4,

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been, shown, it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a winding machine, a rotary spindle for supporting a strand package during the winding thereof, a movable thread guide in contact with the Periphery of the package, a frame for supporting the thread guide, said frame pivotable on an axis substantially parallel with that of the spindle, a tension device having a fixed member and a movable member, said movable member having parallel spaced fingers extending transversely to the direction of the strand passing between the members and which may move into loosely meshing relationship with similarly spaced fingers of the fixed member, a lever pivotably supported adjacent the fixed member on the side thereof opposite the movable member, an adjustable stop means supported by a portion of the lever spaced from the pivot of the lever and extending through fixed members into contact with the movable member, Windlass means and a lever arm therefor, a link connecting the lever arm and a portion of the frame, and a cord secured to, wrapped about, and extending from the Windlass means to a portion of the lever on the opposite side of the pivot from the stop means.

2. In a winding machine, a rotary spindle for supporting a strand package during the winding thereof, a movable thread guide in contact with the periphery of the package, a frame for supporting the thread guide, said frame pivotable on an axis substantially parallel with that of the spindle, a tension device having a fixed member and a movable member, said members having opposed surfaces for frictionally engaging the strand as it passes to the package, a lever pivotably supported adjacent the fixed member on the side thereof opposite the movable member, and adjustable stop means supported by a portion of the lever spaced from the pivot of the lever and extending past the fixed member into contact with the movable member, Windlass means attached to the frame and positioned 00- axially with respect to the frame pivot, a cord secured to and wrapped about the Windlass means and extending therefrom to a portion of the lever spaced from the lever pivot andthe stop means, said cord wrapped in a direction to produce relative movement between the members in response to movement of the stop means.

3. In a winding machine, a rotary spindle for supporting a strand package during the winding thereof, a movable thread guide in contact with the periphery of the package, a counterweighted frame for supporting the thread guide, said frame pivotable on an axis substantially arallel with that of the spindle, a tension device having a fixed member and a movable member, said mem bers having opposed surfaces for frictionally engaging the-strand as it passes to the package, a first lever pivotably supported adjacent the fixed member on the side thereof opposite the movable member, an adjustable stop means supported by a portion of the lever spaced from the pivot of the lever and extending through the fixed member into contact with the movable member, a weighted lever having a sleeve-bearing portion for supporting the weighted lever on a pivot, a link pivotaloly connected with the lever and the counterweighted portion of the frame, a cord wrapped about and extending from the exterior surface of the sleeve bearing to a portion of the first lever, said cord wrapped in a direction to produce relative movement between the members by the stop means when the frame and the thread guide move in response to an increase in the diameter of the package.

4. In a winding machine, a rotary spindle for supporting a strand package during the winding thereof, a tension device having two relatively movable members having opposed surfaces of which portions are relatively movable into. and out of interdigital relationship for frictionally engaging the strands as it passes to the package, means inversely responsive to increase in the diameter of the package for urging the members toward each other, movable stop means for limiting the movement of one of the members toward the other, common means for supporting one member and for movably supporting the stop means, and means responsive to increase in the diameter of the package for moving the stop means.

5. In a winding machine, a rotary spindle for supporting a strand package during the winding thereof, a tension device having a fixed member and a movable member, said members having opposed surfaces of which portions are relatively movable into and out of interdigital relationship for frictionally engaging the strand as it passes to the package, means inversely responsive to increase in the diameter of the package for urging the members toward each other, movable stop means for limiting the movement of the movable member toward the fixed member, common means for supporting the fixed member and for supporting the stop means movably with respect to the fixed member, and means responsive to increase in the diameter of the package for moving the stop means.

6. In a winding machine, a rotary spindle for supporting a strand package during the building thereof, a movable thread guide in contact with the periphery of the package, a tension device having a fixed member and a movable member, said movable member having a strand-engaging surface which is movable toward and away from the fixed member and past a strand-engaging surface thereof, means responsive in inverse proportion to the radial movement of the thread guide away from the spindle for urging the movable member toward the fixed member, mov able stop means for limiting the movement of the movable member toward the fixed member, and means responsive to the radial movement of the thread guide away from the spindle for moving the stop means in a direction toward the movable member.

'7. In a winding machine, a rotary spindle for supporting a strand package during the Winding thereof, a movable thread guide in contact with the periphery of the package, a frame for supporting the thread guide, said frame being pivotable on an axis substantially parallel with that of the spindle, a tension device having a fixed member and a movable member, said movable member having a strand-engaging surface which is movable toward and away from the fixed memher and past a strand-engaging surface thereof, link and counterweight means responsive in inverse proportion to the radial movement of the thread guide away from the spindle for urging the movable member toward the fixed member, stop means for limiting the movement of the movable member toward the fixed member, common means for supporting the fixed member and for movably supporting the stop means, link means between the stop means and a portion of the frame for moving the stop means toward the movable member in proportion to the radial movement of the thread guide from the spindle.

8. In a winding machine, a rotary spindle for supporting a strand package during the winding thereof, a movable thread guide in contact with the periphery of the package, a frame for supporting the thread guide, said frame being pivotable on an axis substantially parallel with that of the spindle, a tension device having a fixed member and a movable member, said members having substantially parallel fingers which may move into loosely meshing relationship, the fingers extending transversely to the direction of a strand passing between the members, stop means for limiting the movement of the movable member toward the fixed member, said stop means being movably supported on the machine in loose engagement with a surface of the movable member facing toward the fixed member for movement relative to the fixed member in a direction extending transversely of the parallel fingers, link means connecting the stop means and a portion of the frame to obtain movement of the stop means tending to separate the members in proportion to the radial movement of the thread guide from the spindle.

WILLIAM H. SHONTZ.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PA'I'ENTS Number Name Date 2,207,863 Hitchcock July 16, 1940 2,217,094 Beckman Oct. 8, 1940 2,362,506 Stearn Nov. 4, 1944 

